1920s and 30s Notes and Handouts

Labour Unrest

  ______– many veterans are returning home to find their jobs no longer exist – felt they were entitled to work after they had fought for their country

  Those lucky enough to have a ______– not paid ______

  War caused massive ______and wages did not match ______

  No ______insurance, No compensation for injuries, poor working conditions – lead to formation of ______

  ______joined new Trade Unions in hopes of a better working life

  Because of Labour Laws, employers not obliged to bargain with unions – The only way to get a point across was to ______

Strikes and Lockouts in Canada

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Year

  1917

  1918

  1919

Number of Strikes

  160

  230

  326

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The Threat of Trade Unions

  in 1917, a group called the ______overthrew the Russian Government and imposed a system of ______through violent revolt

  Believed that ______in the community should be an ______part of the economic process – stressed the power of the ______

  Many trade union______and working class identified with and were influenced by these ideas – ______o Canadian government

  Canadian Government suspicious of ‘______’ who may have brought ‘______to Canada

  Calgary 1919 – Western Canadian Trade Unions met

  To improve working conditions, workers had to join into One Big Union.

  Force higher ______, better ______and shorter working ______.

Winnipeg General Strike

  For ______in the summer of ______the city ofWinnipeg, Manitobawas crippled by a massive and dramatic general strike.

  Frustrated by ______, inflation, poor working conditions and regional disparities afterWorld War I, workers from both the ______and ______joined forces to shut down or drastically ______most ______.

  The workers were orderly and peaceful, but the reaction from the employers, ______and the ______government was ______.

  The strike ended in "______" when the Royal North-West ______attacked a gathering of strike supporters.

  ______strikers were ______30 wounded and many arrested. Workers won little in the ______, and it was another ______before collective bargaining was recognized in Canada

Cape Breton Coal Miners Strike

  Read “Blood on the Coal” and answer the questions on the sheet provided.

  Due tomorrow

1  Why did James Mclachlan come to Canada?

2. Describe life as a labourer working for the Dominion Coal Company.

3. What prevented the miners from joining any unions?

4. Why were the odds stacked against the P.W.A.?

5. How did the Dominion Coal Co. fight the striker's?

6. What finally broke the first strike? Cite historical evidence.

7. How did W.W. 1 affect the relationship between Dominion Coal and the workers?

8. What happened after the First World War to this relationship?

9. What brought about the second strike. What were the results?

10. Why was Mclauchlan replaced and what was the reaction of the workers.?

11. How did Roy Wolvin attempt to break the strikers? Was he successful?

12. What was the significance of the Coal Miner's strike for the workers across Canada?

Women in the 1920s

More Time

u  ______gave women the chance to do more work in less time, so they had more leisure time on their hands.

u  Women joined groups and focused on the social issues of ______, ______and the problems of alcohol.

Temperance

u  The Women's Christian Temperance Union succeeded in have the government pass prohibition laws in 1918 - no more ______

u  However the______was easily broken and eventually was withdrawn.

Women Are Persons

u  In 1916 ______was appointed Canada's first female judge. Our constitution said only qualified "______" (men) could be judges or senators!

u  In 1927 Murphy and four other women (The ______) challenged the persons law. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled they were not persons based on society in 1867 when the constitution was created. They appealed to the Privy Council in England and won their case! ______was Canada's first female Senator.

Sports

u  Canadian women won many track and field medals at the 1928 summer Olympics.

u  (Ethel Catherwood - high jump; Fanny Rosenfeld - track)

u  However, Canadians chose to see men only as the real athletes -women eventually gave up participating in sports.

u  Canada's Dream Team - the ______, a girls basketball team, was Canada's most successful team in history - winning over 96% of its games in its ______years of competition.

Persons Case

-  basic rights were first won only 70 years ago.

-  Canadian women born before 1929 were considered by law to be "non-______."

-  Five governments stated that ______were ineligible to be ______to the Senate because they were not "______." In fact, British ______Law stated they were "persons in the matter of ______and ______, but not in the matter of ______and ______."

-  A group of ______women known as the Famous 5 worked together to try to improve ______for women and change the interpretation of the Canadian Constitution to ensure women could participate in all aspects of ______life.

-  In 1927, the Famous 5 persuaded Prime Minister Mackenzie King to ask the Canadian ______Court to clarify the word "______" under the British North America Act of 1867.

-  Canadian court rejected their argument on April 24, 1928,

o  The Famous 5 persuaded the Government of Canada to appeal to the ______Committee of the British ______Council. There, the Famous 5 won their case and on October 18, 1929, Canadian women were ______declared "______" and eligible for appointment to the ______.

-  The first Senate ______that occurred after the Persons' Case was in Ontario. On February 20, 1928, Prime Minister Mackenzie King appointed Ottawa citizen ______, a remarkable woman who actively opposed anti-______and encouraged governments to accept ______.

-  On December 17, 1997, Senator Beaudoin said (describing the importance of the case, "I suggest in closing that we keep and remember the famous 1929 case that first ______the equality of men and women. . . . This was [also] the time when the ______Council started what we call in law, the theory of '______of the ______."

Politics in the 1920s

Wheat on the Prairies:

u  Countries in______still suffering from the effects of war were demanding food as a result the price went up.

u  Canadian ______enjoyed huge crops and as a result made big profits. This money was reinvested into Trucks, Mechanical harvester, and new stains of wheat.

u  As a result production increased, grain elevators were full and prices remained ______

Pulp and Paper:

u  The U.S. had used up much of its sources of______as a result Canadian pulp exports equaled the total exports of the rest of the world providing many ______.

u  The boom had a down side as ______were destroyed, the Canadian economy became dependent on ______and Canadians follow these jobs to the U.S.

Hydro Electric Power:

u  New industries and people in their homes made increased demands on ______power and Canada with it’s vast ______systems soon became the second largest producer of ______power in the world

Oil and Gas:

u  Factories and the increased use of the car put a huge demand on ______and gas. The discovery of oil in ______in 1924 became a great money maker.

u  The increased use of ______and ______and gas hurt the Maritimes which was a producer of ______the energy source that was being replaced by hydro and oil and gas.

Mining:

u  New mining discoveries near the ______were being developed with American financing and these discoveries created new jobs and wealth for many Canadians.

Politics

The Liberals

u  led by William Lyon Mackenzie King who was similar to ______

u  He did not take sides and always looked for a compromise to please the majority.

u  Was Prime Minister from December 1921 to June 1926 and September 1926 to August 1930

The Conservatives

u  When ______resigned in 1920, ______became the leader.

u  He had very strong opinions, did not know the meaning of compromise, and was in favor of ______(taxes) which prairie farmers opposed.

u  Was Prime Minister from July 1920 to December 1921 and June 1926 to September 1926

Canada's Growing Independence from ______

u  Canada was considered a "colony" of Britain, this meant that Great Britain had legal control over all ______and some Judicial matters.

u  Remember that when Britain declared war on Germany in World War One, Canada was automatically at______.

u  After World War One there was a growing belief in Canada that we should no longer be dragged into European Wars without any direct say. King Agreed with this ______.

Life in the Roaring 20s

  Inventions and new technologies, especially for house hold products, advanced rapidly during the 20’s due to many Canadian and U.S. citizens ability to afford them and the wide spread use of electricity.

Insulin

  ______- a doctor from ______who created the formula for insulin which helps to control ______.

  His research was done with dogs but the first
human (14 year old Leonard Thompson) was injected in 1922 and results were successful.

Telephone

  Alexander Graham ______- from Brantford, Ontario invented the telephone.

  The final model took years to perfect but by ______every 3 out of 4 families had a telephone.

Radio

  Radio linked people across Canada

  Spread popular ______, ______information

  Dominated by American programming

Entertainment

  ______in the 1920's in Canada centered on participation.

  Amateur sports such as hockey, football, baseball, lacrosse, etc. flourished due to the influx of many talented players.

  Canada's golden age of sport. Amateurs often came out of nowhere to capture the headlines, medals, and world records

  Many sports, such as ______football, and baseball, were becoming all ______.

The Edmonton Grads

  Women hit the scene large in the 1920's.

  Edmonton Grads - a successful basketball team that Won ______games and lost only ______

  The Grads achieved ______Olympic victories.

  even faced off against professional male teams and won ______out of ______games!

Movies

  Silent until late-1920s - "talkies"

  Dominated by ______

  Silent Movies – used orchestra music

  Talkies – when characters began to speak in the movie

Art

  Group of Seven

  Canadian landscapes in modern style

  Emily Carr - Aboriginal life and BC forests

Prohibition

  illegal in different parts of Canada for short periods of the 20’s and illegal in the U.S. during the entire decade.

  Prohibition is the law that made alcohol illegal

  1920s’ Prohibition - not allowed to ______, ______, transport, import, or export ______beverages

  ______from alcohol was the only way to prevent ______.

  The primary victims of alcohol abuse were women and children due to ______.

  ______– illegally selling and distributing booze

Gangsters

  made millions of dollars from the illegal sale of alcohol

  resulted in a large loss of ______since each province was individually responsible for the sale of alcohol.

  Gangsters became rich from owning ______, ______, brothels, and gambling joints.

  would carve up a city between rival ______, bribe local officials, and become local celebrities.

Positive Effects of Prohibition

  1. The ______dropped

  2. Arrests for drunkenness ______

  3. Workers took ______home

  4. Industrial ______improved

  became obvious during the 1920's that prohibition was ______to enforce, plus governments were losing ______in potential taxes on liquor sales.

Defeating the Demon Rum

1.  Why was alcohol seen as such a problem for many Canadian families at the turn of the century?

2.  From where and why did opposition to liquor come from?

3.  What was the immediate effect of Prohibition?

4.  What problems faced the enforcement of the Prohibition laws?

5.  What was Temperance Brew?

6.  What was the strongest argument for the removal of the ban on alcohol?

7.  Why did gangsters get involved in the sale of illegal alcohol? What was the result of their involvement?

8.  What and who were “rumrunners”?

9.  What did the poorer Americans” do when they could not afford the good illegal booze. What were the possible effects?

Transportation

  Cars cheaper, more popular, because of the ______(Henry Ford)

  Highway construction all over ______

  Often connecting Canada and USA

Flight

  Pilots testing limits

  Planes used to transport supplies to ______

  Spring, 1927. The first ______flight. New York to Paris.

Slang Words

  Many American slang words which referred to alcohol became popular in Canada
such as: moonshine (illegal liquor), bootleggers (those who sold it), and speakeasies
and blind pigs (places to buy it).

  apple sauce Nonsense, meaningless flattery, or baloney.

  big cheese An important person.

  coffin varnish Cheap, inferior whisky.

  dead soldier An empty beer or whisky bottle.

  drugstore cowboy A young man who hangs around public places and shows off
in an attempt to impress women.

  flat tire A dull or boring person.

  gangster A criminal who belongs to a gang

  gin mill A blind pig, or speakeasy.

  heebie-jeebies Feeling nervous, scared, or worried.

  hooch Whisky or liquor.

  jack Money.

  moonshine Whisky or liquor, usually cheap and low-quality because it is made in
illegal stills. May also mean nonsense or baloney.

  real McCoy Whisky or liquor that is not watered down — also, people who are genuine and can be counted on.

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